DisneyQuest Tips & Review
DisneyQuest is an indoor interactive theme park at Walt Disney World. This post offers some tips & tricks for visiting, and takes a look at it to help you determine if it’s worth your time and money. If you’re planning a 2017 Walt Disney World vacation, you can tentatively include DisneyQuest in your itinerary as its closure has been delayed twice. Now, the question is whether you should include it in your plans, and we’ll answer that in this post.
Before we go further, a bit of background is in order. At the outset, I referred to DisneyQuest as an indoor interactive theme park. Those are Disney’s words, not mine. I’m not nearly that fluent in flowery marketingspeak. I sat in front of a blank screen for about 10 minutes trying to succinctly categorize DisneyQuest in the opening, all to no avail.
January 30, 2017 UPDATE: DisneyQuest will be closing July 3, 2017 to make way for the NBA Experience, which will presumably open sometime in (likely late) 2018. The NBA Experience will be a one-of-a-kind basketball-themed attraction featuring a variety of interactive and hands-on activities putting guests of all ages right in the middle of NBA game action. While precise attractions within the NBA Experience are not yet known, it will offer immersive NBA video productions, numerous interactive experiences, a restaurant, and a retail store.
As for DisneyQuest, enjoy it while you can! Even in its current state, it’s definitely more than an arcade, but calling it an “indoor interactive theme park” frankly makes it sound way cooler than it actually is. The best tagline I can come up with for it is “Next Generation Arcade, Circa 1998.” That may seem sardonic, but in this case, I’m being entirely serious.
This tagline ultimately cuts to the crux of the problem with DisneyQuest: aside from updates here and there, the overall feeling is that it’s stuck in the late 1990s. If Disney were to advertise DisneyQuest, it would only be fitting to hire the Dell Dude, and implore people, “dude, get yourself to DisneyQuest.”
Despite this, is DisneyQuest worth a visit? Well, that depends…
Technology moves quickly, and a lot has changed in the world of interactivity since then. In fairness, not all of these games date back to 1998, but a good number do, and I believe the newest addition is still over a decade old. Even that is an eternity in the world of gaming.
Surprisingly, though, I felt it wasn’t the games that made DisneyQuest feel dated so much as the overall environment and ambiance. The color schemes are totally 1990s, the design style is incredibly tired, and the lighting feels distinctly like one of those roller rinks that is teetering on the precipice of closure after seeing its glory years slip away ages ago. The atmosphere is dark and dreary, making it feel like an old arcade and not what I would expect from a Disney offering.
The experience of going into DisneyQuest reminded me of when I went back to a mall I frequented as a kid–that every store left by the early 2000s (you know, the kind that got scammed by Steve & Barry’s)–and seeing that it’s virtually the same as I remember. Unfortunately, memory tends to color things positively, but in flesh, after seeing that, I came to the realization that 90s styles have not aged well.
In this sense, DisneyQuest is undoubtedly a product of the 1990s. It was developed and built before gaming had truly been embraced by all facets of culture and had gone mainstream, at a time when arcades were widely considered kids’ folly, and an addiction of anti-social adults.
Why the assumption was made that these demographics would prefer dim places is beyond me (and why Disney would follow along with this is even more perplexing), but this being the predominant style of the era can be borne out today in the obsolete arcades that remain from the 1990s.
It may seem like I am devoting an inordinate number of words to such a trivial thing, but I do not think it’s trivial in the least. In fact, I view this as the main problem with DisneyQuest. I think this is really disappointing, as I assume renovating the inside to make it feel more lively would be a relatively cheap fix as compared to developing new games. This is something I do not see discussed much in the “DisneyQuest is stale” conversation, and to me it is the easiest way to modernize DisneyQuest. If it simply were brighter, lighter, and cleaner (in terms of design, not actual cleanliness), I think DisneyQuest would be a lot more popular. As is, DisneyQuest is not a place where I’d want to spend much time simply because the atmosphere is so depressing.
As for the games themselves, I found them to be surprisingly fun. Perhaps I went in with low expectations after hearing so many negative things about DisneyQuest, but I enjoyed the substantive experiences of most games. The graphics were not exactly on the bleeding edge, but they were not so bad as to bother me at all. I will concede that this is a ‘your mileage may vary’ situation. I found all of the graphics of the ‘big’ attractions/games to be on par with Mission: Space, which is perfectly passable by my standards. I’m not sure whether I’m the norm here. I suspect younger audiences or hardcore gamers might balk at the graphics.
To me, video game graphics hit their stride with the Sega Dreamcast, and every improvement since then has been a serious case of diminishing returns and largely superfluous. I am fine with my video games looking like slight caricatures of real life, rather than being indistinguishable from real life. To me, a game’s experience is not defined by the graphics on display. That’s probably another topic for another day, though.
As for the offerings at DisneyQuest, it’s laid out on five floors inside what is essentially a big box building. These floors are divided into various zones, including the Create, Explore, Score, and Replay zones. The main games and interactive experiences are located in each of these zones. Additionally, there are “unlocked” arcade video games, pinball machines, and other random stuff all over the place. Many of these arcade games are actually new (or at least newer).
Now, let’s take a quick look at what I consider to be some of the highlights:
Pirates of the Caribbean – Battle for Buccaneer Gold was my favorite attraction; in this, you stand on the deck of a pirate ship and use cannons to shoot other ships while collecting their games. It has all of the hallmarks of a great attraction: pirates, cannons, and gold. Good times.
CyberSpace Mountain is basically a precursor to Sum of All Thrills in Epcot. Exact same idea, except this has Bill Nye, so it is infinitely better.
Virtual Jungle Cruise had a lot of potential, but I was visiting DisneyQuest by myself (you know, to complete the anti-social gamer stereotype) and it is impossible to go this attraction alone. I found myself perpetually stuck in various corners until the ride mercifully ended.
Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters was a game that should have been right in my wheelhouse as I am an Astro Blasters enthusiast (I have considered going pro, but I’m keeping my amateur status for the Olympics), but the thing barely worked. This is bumper cars with cannons that shoot balls recycled from the closed play areas McDonald’s used to have. Fun in theory, disappointing in actuality.
Invasion! An ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter is a game based loosely on the defunct Magic Kingdom attraction, but it seemed to mostly share a name without the old attraction, and a premise involving aliens. The idea here is that you’re in a virtual spaceship and have to destroy enemy aliens and save colonizing humans. Think Apocalypse Now meets Alien, but a video game. (Yeah, that probably makes no sense. Whatever.)
I did each of these attractions and some others once apiece (Astro Blasters twice to determine if the first failed ride was a fluke–it wasn’t), and then moved on to the arcade games. If you want a precise list of everything in DisneyQuest, check out this synopsis. I actually spent a decent amount of time playing the newer games in the arcade. It was a rainy day, and I didn’t want to walk back to Buena Vista Palace (where I was staying) in that.
During my visit, the place was dead. Again, this was a rainy day (which is supposedly the busiest time for DisneyQuest) during a moderately busy time of year. I showed up a couple of hours after DisneyQuest opened, and literally everything I did was a walk-on. Perhaps it is busier in summer or during the holidays, but there were maybe ~20 other people there when I visited.
You can glean a lot from the above and probably deduce whether it’s worth it for you from that, but I thought I’d add a bit more, because the question of whether it’s ‘worth it’ to do DisneyQuest isn’t quite as straightforward as it might seem.
For starters, the unequivocal “not worth it” situation: you have to purchase individual DisneyQuest tickets at the ticket window there. At $40+ for kids and nearly $50 for adults, there is no way on earth it’s worth it. That’s half the price of theme park admission, for approximately 5% as much fun. Frankly, I would probably complain to Guest Relations if I knew nothing, went to DisneyQuest because it’s marketed as an “indoor interactive theme park”, and paid those prices.
If you have Walt Disney World tickets with the “Water Park Fun & More” option (and as I say in our Tips for Buying Walt Disney World post, I think this is an excellent add-on), the answer is not nearly as clear cut. Personally, I think Typhoon Lagoon is the absolute best use of those add-on credits, with Blizzard Beach being the second best use. However, you can probably do both water parks and still have credits for DisneyQuest. At that point, it becomes a question not of dollar cost, but of time cost. If it’s your first visit to Walt Disney World, I would say that it is not worth the time. Walt Disney World is an expansive place, and time is your most precious resource. There are better uses of it. If you have been multiple times and are looking for something new to try, it might be worth a few hours if you will be visiting Downtown Disney, or if your party consists of the right demographics.
What are the right demographics? My suspicion is that DisneyQuest will appeal most to nostalgic adults in their 30s or young children. I suspect it would not appeal to tech-jaded teens and pre-teens who expect the bleeding edge (my hunch is that they would not be as forgiving of the graphics as I am, but this is merely speculation).
In terms of tickets, the final group would be Annual Passholders whose pass includes admission to DisneyQuest. For this group, a one-time visit to DisneyQuest just to see what the place is about makes sense, as it only costs time, and that time presumably isn’t quite as limited/valuable as the average guest.
Overall, as someone who falls into that final ticket-holding group, I am glad I made a visit to DisneyQuest before it closed just to see it for myself. While I was pleasantly surprised by (some of) the games being more enjoyable than I expected, this actually made me irritated because it made me realize a big part of the “fix” for DisneyQuest is much easier than I had previously thought. Irrespective of that, if you are still thinking of going after reading this, it is worth pointing out that this is not Disney at its finest. So long as you go in with appropriate expectations, it is possible to enjoy the experience, but it’s also pretty easy to see why DisneyQuest will be replaced in the near future. Clearly, its time has come and gone.
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YOUR THOUGHTS…
Have you visited DisneyQuest? What did you think of it? Will you try to make a visit before it closes? Have any other thoughts or questions—please share in the comments below!
I think this is a decision that Disney will come to regret. Sure, basketball is huge in the US but it means little to us visitors from the UK. DQ was one of the main reasons we took the family to Disney Springs. It provided a way of entertaining my kids and giving them a break from the Florida heat. Yes, it was in need of an update, but despite this, we always found the place packed out.
Others have commented elsewhere that Universal tried something similar and it failed.
I get the sense that Disney’s world famous Imagineers are running out of steam. By all means, create an NBA Experience, and a FIFA, and a MLB, etc. But NOT at the expense as something as universally attractive to kids as arcade games.
So disappointed this will close before we make it back to WDW in December. For my son this was a real highlight
Please don’t feel sorry, be glad is closing , we went last Saturday and got locked up twice inside the cage , when they were putting the seat arms down they came down so hard that hurt my daughter , this was on #6 , she then wanted to come back again because its cool to build your own ride and we went to #1 , this time the seat arm safety would not released and they had to call maintenance to manual override it and free us from there .
The crew there are aware of the mechanical problems yet they are not doing anything to eliminate the malfunctions
So sad to read this. I have put off a trip to Disney World for a number of years and dreamt about bringing my daughters to play there.
You see, I opened Disney Quest in Chicago and worked there through the millennium. (I almost worked the night of the millennium when there was no guests inside just to make sure everything was still functional because Y2K-lol). There was an ESPN play zone right next door, and we could see which was more popular so it wasn’t a huge surprise when I heard DQ was closing in Chicago. This kind of breaks my heart though.
It’s the end of an era.
Our family went during June, my kids (under 10 at the time) loved the Disney Quest, we didn’t spend alot of time there because it was packed full of people. The kids loved all the different games they could try, even mom and dad had fun. The best thing was the kids liked that they didn’t cost money and they spent an hour actually playing the entire game of Let’s go Jungle, which they’ve played many times at other arcades but never finished it. They were so excited. While it may get boring after a while, we spent about 3 hours there before walking downtown disney and waiting on dinner at Trex, to me it was well worth it. I can tell you though i dont know that i’ll like the NBA thing, but as a mom of boys that will be their decision to try next time we go. I will miss Disney Quest, it was a great thing to do to escape the heat or the rain..
My son is 17 and has enjoyed going to Disney Quest for more than a decade.
You are correct, the best pricing for it is as a ticket add on.
While a lot of the attractions are old, there are so many, it would be difficult not to find at least something there for you to enjoy. One attraction most people must try, not people who get sick in simulators, is Cyber Space Mountain. This is one of the special offerings of this venue. This attraction allows you to design & create your very own simulator roller coaster ride, and then you actually ride the roller coaster you just designed. One time, when there was no line, we did this 5 times in a row. If you are going here before it shuts down, you should definitely consider this ride.
Not surprised that it is closing, but I am surprised they are replacing it with NBA Experience which can’t be too much different than the NBA City that closed at Universal’s City Walk in 2015.
Supposedly, the NBA chose not to renew its lease with Universal because they wanted to move to Walt Disney World. However, I find that questionable, especially given that this NBA Experience complex was announced, then put on hold, and now going forward.
I’d give it 5 years before the NBA Experience closes, too.
Five years sounds about right. Think about it, other than House of Blues and Cirque du Soleil there is nothing to draw foot traffic to the area, which means few people will “Discover” the NBA Experience during a day at Disney Springs. Re-opening the West End shuttle stop would help but I doubt that would ever happen.
The funny thing is I just realized that I stopped going to Disney Quest about the same time they shut down the West End shuttle stop. I wonder what it would do for the numbers at Disney Quest and HOB if they were to re-open that shuttle stop.
So sad it is closing, it has been part of our Orlando holiday since we discovered Florida in 2001. We go when we arrive and play Pirates of the Carribean until we get the highest score masters of the seas !
Wish they had updated it.
Not a fan of Quest, but think it is a better option than something so specific and not Disney at all. Yuck to the NBA experience. Really think there are lots of better options.
We went to WDW for the first time in Nov. with our two children (9 and 6) and found ourselves at DisneyQuest. We didn’t pay to go in (part of the Water Park Fun & More),….but we all thought it was, in concept, a good idea. There’s tremendous appeal to the video game fan as many of the games there are early 80’s games that you rarely find around anymore and we found ourselves having fun for a good hour. Added bonus for having a number of “Fix It Felix” games (a Sugar Rush game would have been amazing). It is what it is…..and that was fine, although I couldn’t fathom spending 50.00 to get in.
I think the idea is sound…..but if I were to “amateur imagineer” it….I would go with a Planet Pizza theme from the Toy Story franchise; make it a combo family pizza place with the arcade option and upgrade the “cornerstone” games (Pirates/Alien Encounter).
One reason the attendance might have been low on the day that you went is because a lot of us thought that Disney Quest was already closed. We went Thanksgiving 2015 and was told by some of the employees that it would be closed by the end of the year. When we were back in Orlando in July 2016, we didn’t even bother to check to see if it was still open.
We definitely will check on our next visit to see if it’s still in operation.
Myself, my wife, and my 2 teenage kids LOVE Disneyquest ! We’ve been there 4 times in the last 5 years and can easily spend 4-6 hours there. I think it helps to know what you are getting ahead of time. If you love playing arcade games and pinball, this place is for you. They have games from the 80s (pacman, donkey kong, centipede, etc), games like air hockey, pinball, etc, and games through the 90s and 2000s. They even have wreckem ralph ! This place is dated so you have to look past that to see all the fun.
You’ve nailed it. I wish decision makers at WDW would read this article. Maybe I’ll just copy and paste it into my next survey response 😉 We are AP’s and usually go to Disney Quest at least once when we visit WDW. My 13 year old boys (modern gamers at home) still really enjoy playing the old school games with us. We like the nostalgia of the games and the fact that the whole family can play a lot of them together. I wish they’d just update the interior furnishings and add more food and beverage options. Once this closes, I’m afraid my boys will have zero interest in going to Disney Springs. I, for one, am happy the NBA thing is on hold for now.
My wife and I love Disney Quest and would be happy to get an annual pass if it stays. The mix of classic and new is great, but we wish it had longer hours. I don’t think it past its prime, but could use a lighter decor maybe. If it becomes a sports venue of any kind count us out.